California Lawmaker Wants Rules for Robo-Cars

Photo: Office of Sen. Alex Padilla

California Sen. Alex Padilla has seen the future of driving. It is autonomous, and coming to California.

The senator hopped into one of Google’s self-driving Toyota Prius hybrids on Wednesday for a robo-ride to the capital, where he announced legislation that would formally open California’s roads to autonomous vehicles.

Padilla wants the Golden State to follow the same trail blazed by Nevada, which earlier this month became the first to outline requirements for testing autonomous vehicles on public roads. Padilla believes California, with its thriving tech sector, is the perfect testbed for such technology.

“California is uniquely positioned to be a global leader in this field,” he said.

Google, which has racked up more than 200,000 miles with its fleet of autonomous Toyotas, and others argue self-driving cars will increase safety, ease congestion and generally make the stop-and-go slog less of a hassle.

“The vast majority of vehicle accidents are due to human error,” Padilla said, repeating a common refrain heard from advocates of the technology. “Through the use of computers, sensors and other systems, an autonomous vehicle is capable of analyzing the driving environment more quickly and operating a vehicle more safely.”

California does not specifically bar autonomous vehicles from public roads, but neither does it regulate them. For that reason, Padilla’s legislation does not “legalize” autonomous vehicles, which already have been roaming California roads. Rather, SB 1298 directs the California Highway Patrol to adopt safety standards and performance requirements to ensure the safe operation and testing of such automobiles.

Several automakers are pursuing autonomous technology, and some of their work is being done in California. Volkswagen, for example, worked closely with Stanford University through the Volkswagen Electronic Research Lab to develop cars for the DARPA Grand Challenge autonomous vehicle races. And Audi worked with Stanford to develop Shelley, an autonomous TTS that scaled Pikes Peak.

Padilla’s legislation, introduced Friday, “seeks to avoid interrupting these activities while at the same time creating appropriate rules intended to ensure that the testing and operation of autonomous vehicles in the state are conducted in a safe manner.”

None of that qualifies as autonomous tech under Padilla’s bill. The legislation specifically defines “autonomous vehicle” as “a motor vehicle that uses computers, sensors, and other technology and devices that enable the vehicle to safely operate without the active control and continuous monitoring of a human operator.”

That was exactly the experience Padilla said he had Wednesday in Google’s car.

“It was pretty amazing when Google’s vehicle went into self-driving mode,” he said. “The drive was smooth and safe. It worked flawlessly.”

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